A Step Too Far
by PrInCeSsFBi
Summary: Five times the bullies got away with it and one time they didn't.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee**

**a/n: Mackenzie is a character I created way before season three started when I was researching the new developments for the show for my journalism class. Basically her back-story is she was a Stage Crew worker, (I've been a stage manager for about four years now and my friends and I agree we never get acknowledged like ever) but is kinda new to this whole show bizz side of her life. ANYWAYS she isn't a big part of the story but I just figured I'd let ya'll know in advance.**

**IMPORTANT: I do use a very negative slur in here. I do not care if you are not meaning to use it in a negative way, it is a negative term and I will not allow it to just slide like it seems to do in my high school. I would love for you guys to follow my lead and just tell people to knock it off. There is no conflict if we stop the conflict. **

**Slushies**

Mercedes Jones was many things. Diva, fashionist, love child of Aretha Franklin, and McKinley High's very own Queen of Soul. She's gone through the many trials of being a teenager such as insecurities about her weight or lack of a boyfriend but she always came out on top. She could work any song and any outrageous outfit she wore in Glee but she could not, _would not_ ever be able to pull off the purple snow after being thrown at her from the jumbo dollar ninety cent cup slushie. Yet somehow she was standing there, hair, clothing, books ruined by the purple dye that was running from her face to the ground in slow taunting rivers.

Chad the Bad, some jock from the soccer team high fived some of his friends as he tossed the cup over his shoulder, the group pointing and laughing at mess they created.

Mercedes stood stock still, torn between opening her eyes and giving them one hell of a tell off and fearing the sting that would come the moment she saw everyone looking at her as the slushie leaked into her pupils. Her stomach twisted in humiliation. She was Mercedes Jones. She sang Aretha Franklin's "RESPECT" for her Glee audition. She took that closing spot from Ms. Rachel Berry herself. Yet for some reason she couldn't move until the calming hand of Quinn led her towards the bathroom to clean of her face.

**Lockers**

Getting slammed into lockers was becoming a rare thing but it didn't stop hurting every time it did happened. When Karofsky had strangely stopped harassing Kurt, Azimio and the rest of his friends had laid off. There had been the increase of activity when the hockey team tried to gain the reign of the popularity throne Tina had never seen from the football team. No one had been safe then. That was when they had at least three extra pairs of clothes, raincoats, and traveled in packs. But being the girlfriend of a boy on the football team gave her a bit of 'hands off warning' from any and all macho jerks. Still, stuff happens.

Tina had a moment where her mother had seen the bruises and went off for an hour in Chinese thinking Mike was abusing her but she was finally able to calm her down and told her she had fallen during Glee rehearsal on a spin she missed. It had happened before and so after a little more coaxing she let it go. Nothing would come from having her mother freak out over it. Mike, on the other hand was another story. Whenever Mike was around the attacking shoulders seemed to hit him and Tina only got the side effect of being bumped, like she had been knocked off her balance. That's what she played off anyway, because she knew his relationship with his dad, while supportive about his dance career, was still shaky. Getting expelled for fighting would not be good.

So she suffered on in silence. She had actually gotten very good at bracing herself when it came to the locker shoves. If she walked with a purpose and was quick, this whole thing would remain a rare, once in a blue moon, occurrence.

**Dumpster Dives**

Finn didn't make it in time before Rory fell into the dumpster with a sickening squish. The hockey team laughed as they made their way into the school, high fiving and making crude comments back at the Irishmen.

"Rory," Finn said as he peered over the metal container. The exchange student was looking up at him with those sad eyes before his hand landed on something gross. Finn felt a hint of guilt seep into him as he remembered Kurt being in the same place, gum in his hair, as Finn held his designer bag laughing with his friends.

"You ok, man?" Finn held out a hand to the younger boy helping him stand. Rory cringed as he pulled the piece of lettuce from his head.

"I think I need to shower," He muttered pulling himself out of the dumpster. His clothes were a wreck. There was a moldy piece of bread on his back stuck on by mustard, stains and random pieces of trash sticking to his pants and arms.

Finn spun around, hearing a group of people pointing and snickering behind their hands at Rory. Giving them a glare, Finn directed Rory to his car.

"C'mon, man, you can shower at my house. Mr. Shue will understand."

**Vandalism**

Mackenzie felt the cold fall Ohio air tug at her skin as she made her way into the building, her footsteps echoing in the hallway as she walked through the empty maze that was McKinley High School. It was still early, so she was one of the first few actual living souls to roam the building but she liked to get some of her work done at the theatre finished before the day started. Untwisting her scarf from her neck and stuffing it in her bag she pulled her phone out as it vibrated against her hidden hand, still trying to seek warmth in her pocket. The day did not official start until she had received at least one bribery of coffee from one of her new friends. After finally noticing her presence, her job entailed stealth that would make Batman jealous, the Glee club finally began to notice a pattern. Mackenzie knew the theatre inside and out. It was her domain, her kingdom. And no one walked in without her knowledge, Coach Sylvester aside because even Mackenzie couldn't tackle that beast head on without it being thrown back at her after a verbal barb from the cheerleading coach.

It was simple really. Make Mackenzie happy and you had full access to the theatre to practice your little heart out. Make Mackenzie mad and suddenly all the doors were locked, the heating never worked, microphones were hidden, or the piano would go missing. Today's text message was from Blaine, who was promising a warm Carmel Macchiato with her name on it if he and Kurt could practice that afternoon. Mackenzie texted back that if he brought her one of those lemon cakes, he and Kurt could have the auditorium with a full lighting system in the works. She wasn't normally this lenient but she liked the couple. They were cute together and Blaine was the one who got her into this whole Glee thing, anyway, which was still a little weird with her. The whole being seen thing was just... She'd tackle that after her coffee.

She raised a brow at the steaming cup of coffee in her hand, not telling the boys she had a cup already. One cup of coffee was good. Two cups of coffee could cure world hunger. Oh well, she could simply finish it before they got there.

As she tossed her phone into the abyss that was her purse she made her way through the auditorium door, the metal grunting loudly as it opened. The musty smell filled her nose and she smiled. This was her home, a place where she belonged and it only took her just a few courageous vocal chords with a piano accompaniment to see that the light side was equally as fulfilling as the dark. The empty echoes and eerie silence that filled the majestic space wrapped around her like a blanket.

She stopped. Something wasn't right.

And just like that, her blanket was ripped away.

The walls with perfect acoustics were marred by crude spray paint in bold letters:

FAIRY LAND

Seats were upturned, the stuffing falling out onto the ground like the all had exploded. Curtains laid on the stage in tatter messes, a stain trailing all along the ground looked like someone had taken a piss to the carpet. All the costumes so neatly organized in the back room now were thrown all over the place. Sheet music in pieces. The trash from the dumpster outside was upturned in the pit. Light bulbs were shattered.

There was a loud cheer and Mackenzie jumped back startled. Dropping her coffee she ran from the theatre and out the door.

**Names**

Kurt smiled happily at his boyfriend's rumpled form in the window seat that had been dubbed their meeting spot for the hour they had to kill before Glee rehearsal. The halls were empty except for the few wandering students that had after school things but for the most part the time was theirs.

"Hi," Blaine smiled up at Kurt, his voice scratchy from the cold he happened to catch. That was the problem with highschools; any type of germ that entered the building went around the building and attacked everyone. But thanks to Kurt's borderline obsessive routine of all his daily need of vitamins, hand washing, and exercise, Kurt had been lucky to avoid any semblance of the nasty bug going around.

"Well hello there. Drink this," Kurt said handing Blaine his tea. The curly haired boy pouted at only getting a kiss on the forehead but dutifully accepted the cup. Before long they were comfortable lounging against the brick wall, staring out the window, with Blaine curled in on Kurt drinking the tea. "Feeling any better?"

Blaine said nothing but shook his head pitifully, before burrowing further against Kurt.

"Do you want me to call Cooper to come pick you up? Artie and Tina are out too so you could go home."

"Oh god no," Blaine said quickly. "He'll make me eat more soup and oranges."

Kurt laughed at Blaine's miserable tone and Blaine chuckled too.

"He means well but I think that's all he knows how to handle a cold."

"You could come back to my place and we could cuddle. I might even let you make a pile of dirty tissues before putting them in the trash."

Blaine hummed at that happily.

There was a sound of disgust, the two hadn't heard the sound of footsteps, as a boy passed them muttering.

"Get a room, fags."

Kurt and Blaine tensed, frozen in place as the boy kept on walking, his sentence hanging in the air. Kurt's stomach filled with the same loathing feeling he got every time he heard that word, that slur. His face got hot with anger and he felt the equally hateful reply he was just about to shout push against his lips before Blaine's squeezed his middle, nuzzling his head under Kurt's chin. The mood had been killed but Kurt just wrapped his arm back around Blaine, hand going to stroke his hair. Still he was going to need a long angry version of a Kelly Clarkson song today at Glee.

**A Step To Far**

Santana cared for a very few select things. First and foremost was Britney, the blonde cheerleader that pulled every single string of her badass heart. Second, was her family (even though her and her abuela weren't on speaking terms she wouldn't deny that every time the phone rang she hoped it was her calling Santana over to eat). Third, she cared about Blaine. As odd as it may seem, something about the hobbit Katy Perry addict curly haired freak pulled at her protective instincts. She wasn't entirely sure the new kid was even aware of it (unless it looked like Kurt, smelled like Kurt, or had Kurt's face on it he wasn't really aware of a lot of things). But as any smart person would know, you don't mess with things that Santana cared about. Ever.

She had been leaning against the lockers as she listened to Britney go on excitedly that her Calculus teacher was really the green M&M in disguise. Britney didn't take Calculus, but Santana kept that to herself. A loud bang had startled the two of them and they turned around just in time for them to see Azimio slam his palm against the locker beside Blaine's head making the younger boy flinch but otherwise remain unfazed to the bully's taunts. Kurt was standing beside the two, spitting out some smart insult, before grapping at Blaine's arm and trying to pull him away. But as Blaine began to move under Azimio's arm, the football player pushed Kurt away with a large swipe of his arm, his friends laughing as Kurt spilled to the floor. Something in Blaine seemed to snap. A furious look appeared on the usually cool dapper face as Blaine's fist swung, knocking Azimio back with one solid punch to the cheek.

"Blaine!" Kurt explained but it was too late. Azimio had the singer up against the lockers as his fist became acquainted with Blaine's face.

Santana felt a growl inside of her. No one messed with the hobbit. No one. Dropping her bag beside Britney she marched across the open circle, past Kurt, and to the football player, a fierce verbal smack down that would send Azimio all the way back to kindergarten crying at her lips. As Azimio raised his fist again, Santana grabbed at his arm. And then it happened.

Suddenly she was against the lockers on the opposite side of the hallway, her face smacking the metal of whoever's locker that she had crashed into. Santana grasped her nose as the pain hit her face. She stared at her hand, her blood covering it, not even aware at Azimio had stopped in his assault and was staring in horror at her. She wanted to hurl as the warm blood streamed down her face and onto her chin. It wasn't like those shows she and Brit watched every Thursday night. It was real and it hurt! She suddenly felt hands on her and she tried to shake them off, still lost in her shock to realize who or what was happened. Kurt's face appeared and then Britney's as they looked at her panicked. Then suddenly Mackenzie appeared, her hands going to Santana's face. She flinched at the touch but the propping fingers just barely registered as the brunette began to talk. Britney wiped Santana's tears away, brushing back her hair.

"Ok….ok. You're ok. I don't think it's broken." Mackenzie tried to say lightly but her face was dark. Then Rachel appeared holding up what looked like a cold bottle of water, the condensation frozen along the plastic. An angry glint was in her eyes but she stared intently at Santana as she held the bottle up to her face, the cold frozen water making the Latina sigh in relief.

"You're getting blood all over your dress." Kurt pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket (of course he would carry something like that in his inside pocket) and guided her hand to hold the cloth up to her nose.

"Mercedes and Tina are getting the nurse," Rachel said. They all jumped at the loud bang in the hallway and they turned to see Sam, Puck, Blaine, and Finn going at with Azimio. Some of the jock's friends where backing him up but the other seemed to disappear. The smart ones realized that there was no going forward from this point on. Yes, boys fight boys and beat each other up. Unfortunately, that was given a blind eye by the administration. It was different when it was a boy beating up a girl. They'd be lucky to get a suspension. One look at Blaine's face added with Santana's now bloody nose and wrecked appearance from Sue Sylvester and Santana wasn't even sure she was going Azimio's body would be found the next morning. One thing was for sure. They wouldn't be getting away with it.

**a/n: Bullying has to stop guys. And I know this gets old hearing but it makes a difference to just say something. Anybody who wants to pick a neutral side is actually siding with the bully in situations where you don't speak up for a victim. Even the smallest comment makes a difference. **


End file.
